Homeless Shelter Won't Accept Married Gay Couples

A nonprofit homeless shelter in Kansas City won't allow married same-sex couples to stay together overnight because officials believe those relationships violate biblical principles.

Leaders of the City Union Mission in Kansas City, MO., debated the decision for three or four years, but decided it must adhere to its Christian beliefs, executive director Dan Doty said.

"[W]e are a Christian, faith-based organization that really does adhere to biblical standards," Doty told the Kansas City Star.

"Our view is that it (same-sex marriage) is inappropriate. Our intent is not to shelter same-sex couples together."

The mission houses up to 550 people every night, including families with children. It gets no local, state or federal funding.

"We want to stay true to our biblical convictions, yet we do love all people," he told the Star. "We do shelter men who are gay, and lesbian women, and transgender people, although if their birth gender is male, we require them to dress that way if they are in our men’s shelter."

The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities both allow same sex couples in family shelters, and couples who won't abide the City Union Mission's rule will be referred there and other places that accommodate same-sex couples, the Star notes.

"Our values are Catholic, but the people who come to us aren’t necessarily Catholic, and we don’t ask them to affirm our beliefs, Vicki Timiney, a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph told the Star.